Google has integrated a new feature in Google Search to allow users to book a table in a restaurant or order food from it directly from the search result page through Swiggy and Zomato.
“Feeling like having some Tandoori chicken from 21 Guns Salute in Gurgaon? Or wanting to book a table at Toit in Bangalore? Now you can do both right from Google search. From today, when people search for a nearby restaurant on their phone, they’ll see an option to “Place an order” in the search results. Just tap that and choose your favourite delivery service like Zomato or Swiggy and you’ll be taken to their website to complete the order,” Suren Ruhela, director, and Roli Agarwal, head, strategic partnerships, India, Google Maps and local search, wrote in a blog post.
The Mountain View-headquartered giant also said it wants to make dining out easier, and hence it has some partner restaurants where the user can directly book a table from the search results without going through Zomato, Dineout or other such apps.
Initially, users will be able to order food via Zomato and Swiggy, and make restaurant reservations with Dineout and Bytplus using Google Search and the Google app on an Android or iOS phone or tablet. “These features are just rolling out and we’ll be adding more partners and evolving the look and feel over time,” Ruhela and Agarwal wrote.
{{/usCountry}}Initially, users will be able to order food via Zomato and Swiggy, and make restaurant reservations with Dineout and Bytplus using Google Search and the Google app on an Android or iOS phone or tablet. “These features are just rolling out and we’ll be adding more partners and evolving the look and feel over time,” Ruhela and Agarwal wrote.
{{/usCountry}}Google’s move is expected to boost the fortunes of food-delivery apps, which have been reeling under losses. Zomato was forced to shut down in four cities earlier this year. Foodpanda and Swiggy both have reported huge losses.
Google did not respond to HT’s request for comments.
Google Search in India has recently seen a lot of feature integrations, including direct flight searches. Users can see various options for flights on Google Search. Booking can be done directly via the airline website or via GoIbibo. There are also Crick scores and Olympic updates.